§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the extent of the direction he gives to regional hospital boards and hospital management committees to employ qualified doctors and nurses in their hospitals; and what proportion of permanent staff doctors consists of locums engaged through agencies;
(2) what is the number of doctors employed by regional hospital boards or hospital management committees whose services were obtained through agencies in the month of September, 1971.
§ Mr. AlisonHospital authorities have been instructed that before allowing a person to take up duty in any medical post, they should satisfy themselves that he is appropriately registered and, therefore,inter alia holds a medical qualification recognised by the General Medical Council. Hospital authorities are similarly responsible for verifying the qualifications of nurses. As regards doctors engaged through agencies I cannot add to my reply to the hon. Member on 28th October.—[Vol. 823, c. 457–8.]
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the total qualified nursing staff in each regional hospital consists 64W of agency nurses; and what were the comparable figures in 1964.
§ Mr. AlisonFollowing is the information. As the agency nurse figures are not available for 1964, figures for 1965 are given.
PROPORTION OF TOTAL QUALIFIED NURSING STAFF CONSISTING OF AGENCY NURSES IN REGIONAL HOSPITAL BOARD HOSPITALS 1965 1971 Regional Hospital Board Per cent. Per cent. Newcastle Nil Nil Leeds 0.03 0.02 Sheffield 0.2 0.3 East Anglian 1.1 1.0 North West Metropolitan 1.1 2.0 North East Metropolitan 2.8 5.1 South East Metropolitan 0.6 0.8 South West Metropolitan 2.3 4.9 Wessex 0.3 0.7 Oxford 1.3 1.6 South Western 0.4 0.4 Birmingham 0.1 0.4 Manchester Nil 0.1 Liverpool Nil Nil Notes:
1. The figures are based on numbers in post at 31st March in whole-time equivalent terms.
2. The figures include qualified midwives as well as qualified nurses.